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What if DreamWorks Pictures/DreamWorks Animation was founded in 1934?/DreamWorks Animation/Chris Meledandri
New York City, New York, U.S.|alma_mater = Dartmouth College|nationally = American|occupation = Film producer, founder, CEO and owner of Illumination and senior vice president for DreamWorks Animation|years_active = 1986 - present}}Christopher Meledandri (/mɛlɛdɑːndreɪ/; born May 15, 1959) is an American film producer and the founder, CEO and owner of Illumination Entertaiment and senior vice president of DreamWorks Animation. He is best known as the producer of the Despicable Me franchise. Works Walt Disney Pictures Before joining Fox, was president of Dawn Steel Pictures at Walt Disney Pictures, where he served as an executive producer of Cool Runnings. 20th Century Fox Animation During his tenure, he produced Ever After: A Cinderella Story and helped Fox become a major player in the world of animated feature films. In 1998, he led Fox's acquisition of fledgling visual effects/commercial house Blue Sky Studios, which he built into a successful producer of animated features. He oversaw the creative and business operations of Blue Sky, now Fox's wholly owned CGI studio. While at the studio, Meledandri supervised and/or executive produced movies including Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Robots, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Dr. Seuss Horton Hears a Who!. He also produced two animated shorts, Gone Nutty and No Time for Nuts, both were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Illumination Entertaiment Meledandri left as President of 20th Century Fox Animation in early 2007 and founded Illumination Entertaiment, an all-audience film production company, co-owned by Universal Pictures, which fully finances and owns the films. In 2010 Illumination released its first film, Despicable Me, (which became very successful and was followed by two sequels released in 2013 and 2017, respectively), and in 2011 Hop. Illumination released a film version of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, which continued the successful collaboration between Meledandri and Theodor (Dr. Seuss) Geisel's widow, Audrey. He also produced the Deespicable Me spin-off prequel film featuring the Minions, Minions (2015). In January 2018, Nintendo announced during a fiscal meeting that Illumination would be developing an animated Mario film (as well as the remake version of the 1993 film) and that Meledandri will co-produce the film with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto. DreamWorks Animation On April 28, 2016, NBCUniversal announced its intent to acquire competing studio DreamWorks Studios for $3.8 billion. It was announced that Meledandri would oversee both Illumination and DreamWorks following the completion of the merger. However, it was later announced that Meledandri had declined to oversee DreamWorks, and will instead be a consultant at the studio. On November 6, 2018, it was announced that Meledandri will be helping Illumination and DreamWorks to reboot the Shrek and Puss in Boots franchises. He intends, however, to retain the original voice actors, as he pointed out they were perhaps the most memorable parts of the series. Personal life Meledandri was born in New York City. He is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He attended Dartmouth College and is a member of the board of trustees at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. He has two sons, born c. 1990 and 1999. Filmography Films